ipl-logo

Christopher Mccandless: A Tragic Hero

765 Words4 Pages

Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death. In the beginning, McCandless starts his adventure by cutting himself off from all the human connections he had. He severs all ties from his family, including his sister which whom he was previously very close to. He burns his social security card, changes his name, and decides to travel across the country. Throughout his journey, Christopher often accounts for his parent’s wrongdoings for the reasons why he wanted to run away to Alaska. He subsists with a minimalist lifestyle and is disappointed in his parents’ behaviors and their materialism. In a letter penned to Wayne Westerberg, McCandless writes, “My days were more exciting when I was penniless” (Krakauer 33). He gets a thrill out of not knowing what will come his way each day. Being “penniless” furthers the sense of uncertainty. He even argues that, “Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future” (Krakauer 40). In a way, everyday is a new adventure for Chris. This is why not only did he …show more content…

As investigator Ken Sleight stated, “That’s what is great about him. He tried. Not many do” (Krakauer 67). He lived out his dreams and in the end, his journey is what killed him, forever making him a tragic

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

    285 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chris McCandless was a young, determined man whose goal was to escape society’s values that he believed deprived humanity of it’s true happiness. In the book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer he describes how people label McCandless as ruthless and careless for not knowing the basics of surviving in Alaska and for abandoning his family. However, McCandless was an educated, intelligent man. He wanted to live in peace in order fulfill his life with happiness he thought was correct. McCandless saw many flaws in society.

    Read More

  • Self-Confidence In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

    1343 Words  | 6 Pages

    Mccandless sense of self confidence while trying to find his identity helped him to progress in life, but was also his greatest downfall; Into the Wild demonstrates self confidence as not an unacceptable trait to have, but the significance of the negative or positive effects it can possess. Confidence played a big role in Mccandless life, so much that he created relationships with his family and other people that caused him to go on his adventures. Throughout this book Mccandless expresses his hate towards his parents. When he was old enough to realize that his dad had cheated on his mom this particular aspect changed him.

    Read More

  • The Death Of Chris Mccandless

    362 Words  | 2 Pages

    A trait simply described as the overestimation of oneself can be a quintessential element in understanding a character’s downfall. People such as Chris McCandless, Oedipus and Tiger Woods are key examples when trying to relate, understand, and analyze what we know today as “Hubris”. The connections that can be made between each of these characters describe the very nature of how a hero will ultimately meet their bane as a result of being blinded by their own flaws. The death of Chris McCandless was an extremely controversial subject that involved many different people. The justification of his death can be argued in a way .

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Into The Wild Essay

    664 Words  | 3 Pages

    What really drove Chris McCandless into the wild? I believe the top three of the countless reasons that drove McCandless into the wild was the emotional damage from his parents, rebellion of the youth & risk taking tendencies, and his hubris and detestation against authority and/or someone telling him what to do. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild because of his literary heroes Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau , and Jack London but the real reason he left everything was because of those reasons. In this essay I will elaborate on why I believe those are the reasons that drove McCandless into the wild.

    Read More

  • Who Is Chris Mccandless's Identity In Into The Wild

    959 Words  | 4 Pages

    Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography that follows Chris McCandless and his journey through the wilderness while finding himself along the way. Chris McCandless died in the August of 1992 after a four month journey through places like Mexico and Alaska. Krakauer investigates his actions and analyzes his identity after his death, trying to find meaning within his seemingly unnecessary expedition. Chris McCandless constructs his personal identity as a man who wanted to be challenged and inspired by his actions and interests with people he met on the road, and his beliefs and values as a stubborn person. Chris McCandless’s actions are unusual in many ways; for one, he graduates college with honors, but instead of pursuing a career,

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Transcendentalism

    988 Words  | 4 Pages

    "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

    629 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild investigates the life and adventures of Chris McCandless. The author provides information about Chris’ life to illuminate his journey. Krakauer also uses rhetorical appeals to defend Chris’ rationale for his journey. Through Krakauer’s use of pathos, ethos, and logos, he persuades the audience that Chris is not foolish; however, Krakauer’s intimacy with Chris and his adventures inhibits his objectivity.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Biography Essay

    972 Words  | 4 Pages

    Christopher McCandless’s was a young wise man and stubborn guy that was intelligent he knew the right answers to respond which got himself out of things but also got himself into difficult situations that were not processed right. McCandless was raised in a upper middle class family in Annandale Virginia by parents Walt and Billie. He had eight siblings which one he was super close to named Carine and the rest were half siblings from his dads first marriage. Growing up Chris had a rough childhood with his parents problems and the affairs they had. McCandless would question himself why people would treat each other bad he would try to make a sense of the world.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Life In The Wild Analysis

    1125 Words  | 5 Pages

    Chris McCandless abandoned the modern world and chose the wild because he believed that he could improve himself through living in the wild, and found the true happiness of the life. McCandless abandoned his wealthy family because of his complicated relationship with his father, and he was ashamed with his father’s adultery. Therefore, McCandless believed that human relationship was not the only thing that forms happiness, instead a man’s connection with the nature brings joy as well. He also believed the habitual lifestyle was not what people were meant to do, and people shouldn't have more possessions than what they need. For this reason, McCandless traveled with little effects.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless's Life

    1617 Words  | 7 Pages

    During the college years, Chris had gradually become disenchanted with his own well-off lifestyle and turned himself into an avid follower of Tolstoy’s asceticism, “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him” (Krakauer, Author’s Note ). The reason why Chris hooked on asceticism was largely due to Chris’s changed perception of the world that “McCandless took life’s inequities to heart” (Krakauer 113), and “More and more of the classes he took addressed such pressing social issues as racism and world hunger and inequities in the distribution of wealth” (Krakauer 123) only reinforced his stances on the issue of social inequities. Seemingly, Chris considered practicing asceticism: living a frugal, abstinent, and austere life, as his expression of disapproving the unjust world. Subsequently, the asceticism which helped transform Chris into a totally spiritual person also made him a single-minded person with greater intransigence.

    Read More

  • Christopher Mccandless Life Analysis

    630 Words  | 3 Pages

    Doing everything flawless with no agitation and finessing the trip to Alaska to fall short to a poisonous plant. The only thing that McCandless could have done to survive would probably be not crossing the river because that was the main complication that got him stuck. To conclude, I would agree with Shaun Callarman at the end because there was plenty of evidence on how inadequate Christopher McCandless’s decisions were and how unpredictable his situation was. There was no other way this journey could have ended for McCandless except if he just stayed home from the beginning. Overall, he was amateurish and incompetent person that could not accomplish his dream, but did inspire endless people to follow their dreams and achieve nature tranquility.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild

    1376 Words  | 6 Pages

    Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.

    Read More

  • Structure Of Into The Wild

    748 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anyone can have a story in their life and can turn it into a book. Jon Krakauer wrote Into the Wild on what happened to Christopher McCandless and turned his story into a novel. Jon Krakauer´s structure his novel to let the reader have their own opinions on Christopher McCandless by stating the book is on his bias viewpoint, putting it in non-chronological order, and wrote about his own background life story, which is all important to strengthen Krakauer 's motive of writing his book. Into the Wild, focuses on the young individual named Christopher McCandless who hitchhiked to Alaska. Along the way, in his journey, he met new people and traveled in many places.

    Read More

More about Christopher Mccandless: A Tragic Hero

Open Document